Lisa Somervail

Full Profile

Lisa focuses on complex, often document-intensive, high-value non-marine insurance/reinsurance arbitration and litigation matters in several jurisdictions, including England & Wales and Bermuda.

Lisa has substantial experience in acting for Lloyd's syndicates and London, European, US and Bermudian insurers, her insurance/reinsurance experience including matters involving coverage issues, professional indemnity, health hazards (phamaceuticals, medical devices), and in particular, she deals with disputes arising on large risks underwritten in the Bermuda insurance market, especially involving the Bermuda Form (usually involving New York substantive law and English or Bermudian arbitration).

Lisa also has wider general commercial experience, including advising in relation to general contract and tort matters.

Experience

• Successfully acting for the respondents in both the Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal in AstraZeneca Insurance Company Limited v (1) XL Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd and (2) ACE Bermuda Insurance Ltd, the first substantive Bermuda Form case to come before the English Courts, in respect of a coverage dispute (involving consideration of "actual liability" issues under English law) arising from AstraZeneca's antipsychotic pharmaceutical, Seroquel.
• Acting for various Bermuda insurers in respect of coverage disputes arising in relation to excess liability, property, product liability and D&O policies, often running matters to successful hearing at arbitration.
• Acting for Bermuda and London insurers on, and obtaining, anti-suit injunctions from the English Commercial Court to enforce compliance with arbitration clauses in excess liability, D&O and property / home insurance policies and to restrain proceedings in the USA.
• Acting for various insurers in the London, Bermuda and US markets in relation to coverage for claims against numerous large US oil companies in relation to MTBE.
• Advising various insurers in the Bermuda market in relation to climate change litigation brought, primarily in the USA, against oil majors.
• Acting for various insurers in the Bermuda market in relation to claims brought in the USA against herbicide manufacturers.
• Providing coverage advice on a range of issues, including:  contingency policies relating to claims arising from cancelled events involving some of the world's biggest stars; and policies of personal accident insurance concerning professional football players, including claims involving Premiership and Championship footballers with career-ending injuries.
• Acting for a major international mining and commodities company on a business interruption claim arising under an all risks property insurance policy following an incident at an African copper smelting plant.
• Acting for London and European insurers in respect of an aviation hull and liability policy in a Commercial Court action involving allegations of fraud arising from a helicopter crash.
• Advising on a range of commercial issues, including: advising a US client in respect of the enforcement in England of a US arbitration award following the investigation and tracing of assets to Jersey; advising an Austrian medical entity in respect of possible contract and tort claims concerning losses arising from a defective medical device and the subsequent issuance of proceedings in the English Courts; and advising London insurers on asset-freezing issues arising from UN, EU and UK sanctions against Libya.